


A Little TLC

by eerian_sadow



Series: cotton candy bingo [6]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Community: cottoncandy_bingo, Community: tf_speedwriting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-26
Updated: 2014-06-26
Packaged: 2018-02-06 09:19:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1852744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Dinobots need a distraction when Grimlock and Kup are injured.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little TLC

**Author's Note:**

> just barely made that 120 min cutoff! This piece is doing double duty as a fill for my cottoncandy_bingo card, filling my "babysitting" square.

The base was too quiet and too empty when Carly came in, even with Eject and Rewind standing watch at the front door and Prowl having sent a text to her phone to let her know that he was available if she needed anything. The whole place felt like a tomb, and it made her sad to know that the Decepticons had trounced her friends so solidly today.

She tried not to think about how many of them were probably in the medbay, waiting for Ratchet and Hoist to be able to fix them.

She walked quickly to the rec room, trying to shake the feeling of death. There would be someone there, unless things had gone so badly that even the walking wounded were needed to fill critical posts. And if there wasn't anyone there, it was a short walk to Prowl's office to see if he needed help.

When Carly stepped through the door that Wheeljack had installed for them years ago--wide enough for Chip's chair and small enough for any of the humans to open easily despite the weight of the metal--she frowned at the sight that greeted her.

The Dinobots--most of them, at least; she couldn't see Grimlock--were in their beast forms and curled up in a pile on the floor. They were covered in dirt and laser scoring, but they looked undamaged. They were, however, clearly traumatized by something because none of them even looked up when the door clanged against the wall.

"Guys?" She did her best to keep her worry out of her voice. The Dinobots responded poorly when they thought any of the humans were upset by anything. "What's wrong?"

Four huge heads lifted tiredly and turned slowly to focus on her. Swoop blinked once and spoke. "Him Kup in medbay. Ratchet say him hurt bad. Maybe him Kup _die_. Him Grimlock in medbay too."

"And no one's here to sit with you while you all worry." Carly crossed the room and climbed the nearest Dinobot--Sludge, she thought, though she couldn't see enough of him to be sure--until she found a good spot to perch. She settled in a spot where she could reach each of them and patted each of young mech comfortingly. "Kup and Grimlock will be okay. They're tough mechs and Ratchet's the best medic ever. I can help keep you distracted, if you want though. I know how hard it is when you're waiting for news about a family member."

"Like when us Dinobots sit with you Carly when Nana in hospital?" Slag asked, trying to move closer to the human woman.

"Just like that." She rubbed his nose when the triceratops was near enough. "What would help all of you?"

"Tell story," Snarl told her. 

"Yes, story!" Sludge agreed quickly.

"Well," she thought for a moment. "I don't really know any stories to tell you. I could read one from a book though. How does that sound?"

The Dinobots looked at each other for a moment before Swoop nodded. "Book good. Story not have to be made up by you Carly."

"Okay. Give me a minute to go get one out of my room and I'll be right back." 

"No! Not want to be alone!" Slag shoved Snarl out of his way and put his nose on Carly's lap like an oversized puppy. "Carly not leave us Dinobots!"

She sighed. Without even realizing it, it looked like she had signed up for Dinobot-sitting duty. "It's okay. I won't leave you. You guys can come with me and help pick out the book, okay?"

"Okay."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

They trooped to the quarters Grapple had installed for her like the world's oddest line of ducklings. Carly led the way, followed by Slag--close enough that the warm air being vented from his cooling systems ruffled her hair like a breeze--Swoop, Sludge and Snarl. While they walked, she sent a quick text to Prowl to let him know where the Dinobots were and what they were all up to. 

The tactician thanked her for watching out for them and promised a status update as soon as he heard how Grimlock and Kup were doing. Carly knew how importatnt things liek that were, and she looked up from her phone screen with a smile. "Prowl says he'll send a message as soon as he knows something about how Grimlock and Kup's repairs are going."

"That good." Swoop bobbed his head with less vigor than he usually would, but it was still clearly a pleased gesture. "That help us Dinobots worry not as much."

The human nodded, knowing it didn't really work that way. Swoop was just trying to give his brothers something esle to focus on.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

She carried a small stack of books out of her room and flooped down into her folding chair with them. The Dinobots arranged themselves attentively around her in the hallway, barely leaving room for one of the minibots to squeeze by. She wondered if she shouldn't have made them go back to the rec room after all when she saw how much space they were taking.

That was really a battle that wasn't worht fighting, though. Especially not today. She looked down at the stack of books instead. "Okay, we have "The Hobbit", "Dragonsong", "Jurassic Park", "Frankenstein" and "Through the Looking Glass". What do you think?"

"Read dinosaur book!" Slag demanded, wiggling closer to her. "Me Slag like dinosaur story!"

She laughed, remembering how many times they had watched the movie on VHS after it had been released. She might have to buy them the DVD for one of their birthdays, since the old tape was long worn beyond use. "All right, but it's very different than the movie."

"That make it better!" Sludge chimed in.

"That make it like different story!" Snarl seemed pleased.

"Well, Swoop?" Carly gave him a soft smile. "Care to make it a unanimous vote?"

The flier shook his head. "Me Swoop want new story. Me want Alice story. Me liked that when me hear you read to Hound."

The blonde woman nodded and pulled two books from the stack. Then she put the others on the floor. "We'll read a few chapters of Jurassic Park, then, and a few chapters of Looking Glass. Then we'll see if there's any news."

The Dinobots all nodded, accepting their story supplier's word as law.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Carly."

Ratchet's voice roused her and she raised her head from Slag's plating to look at him through bleary eyes. "What's up, Ratch?"

"Thanks for taking care of them." The medic nodded toward the Dinobots, who were all sprawled out in recharge on the floor. "No one but Kup ever thinks to keep an optic on them when one of them is in the medbay. With him there, too..."

"They were the easiest babysitting job ever." She smiled at him. "I take it Grim and Kup are out of the woods?"

"Grimlock was never in the woods, but he wouldn't leave the medbay until I had Kup stabilized _and_ reassembled. They're both fine."

"Oh good. Would you mind waking these guys up and letting them know? I think they'll be happiest hearing it from you."

"Sure thing, Carly." The white and red mech gave her a tired smile. "Then maybe you can read me a bedtime story to help power down afterward."


End file.
